Back page of the Daily News for Dec. 9, 2015 with Ben Zobrist rejecting the Mets. (New York Daily News)

But now that the Mets put more thump into their lineup to go with all that wonderful young starting pitching, here's how we see the NL, at least while snow piles up on the city streets during a January blizzard:

1. New York Mets: The defending National League champions may be on another October collision course with the Cubs after the Cespedes move. Yes, they lost postseason star Daniel Murphy, but they may have upgraded at second base by adding Neil Walker in a trade with the Pirates. Asdrubal Cabrera takes over at short, pushing Wilmer Flores to a super utility role, and Alejandro De Aza at least offers outfield depth. They added Antonio Bastardo and Jerry Blevins to the bullpen to shore up the setup corps in front of superlative closer Jeurys Familia.

The Mets are hoping for continued blossoming from Travis d'Arnaud and Michael Conforto and a return to solid form by Juan Lagares. Another good season from Curtis Granderson and more home runs from Lucas Duda wouldn't hurt, either.

The Nationals still have the Bryce Harper, who is arguably the best player in the league. (Gregory Bull/AP)

Of course, the whole year will hinge on the thunderbolt arms of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, plus a mid-season arrival from Tommy John recovery by Zack Wheeler. In the meantime, Bartolo Colon offers rotation depth before a shift to the pen, a role he embraced last October.

2. Chicago Cubs: Or maybe the Cubs won the winter? They certainly have a claim to it after they added free agent Ben Zobrist, a Met target, starter John Lackey and defensive whiz right fielder Jason Heyward in a busy off-season. That's a nice influx of talent to a roster that already held probably the best collection of young position-player talent in the game.

Anthony Rizzo is a star and Kris Bryant may surpass him this year. Addison Russell is so good a shortstop that the Cubs moved on from their former shortstop of the present and future, Starlin Castro, even though Castro is only 25 and already has 991 career hits. Cub boss Theo Epstein moved Castro to the Yankees for swingman Adam Warren, who could fill an important bullpen role.

In Lackey, the Cubs have what should be a reliable third starter behind ace-types Jake Arrieta, the defending NL Cy Young Award winner, and Jon Lester. Last year's NLCS felt over as soon as the Mets won games started by Arrieta and Lester, but it might not be as easy this time with Lackey bolstering the rotation.

The Giants add Johnny Cueto to the mix for the 2016 season. (Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News)

3. Washington Nationals: They had kind of a rough winter, missing out on Cespedes, Heyward and some other potential free agent targets. But the Nats still have Bryce Harper, possibly the game's best player, and maybe Murphy's October was more like a step forward instead of only a hot streak.

They were a disappointment last season, sure, going 83-79 and helplessly watching the Cespedes Express bolting past them in the standings. But can a team this talented be so mediocre two straight years, especially with new manager Dusty Baker working his clubhouse magic, another full year of the tremendous Max Scherzer and maybe a season of good health from Stephen Strasburg?

Whatever happens, 19 games between the Nats and Mets will be fascinating theater.

The first big shock wave of the offseason was Zack Greinke bolting L.A. for the Diamondbacks. (Lenny Ignelzi/AP)

4. San Francisco Giants: It's an even year and that alone means the Giants present a significant threat to the rest of the NL. After all, they won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and this sort of mojo might be the only thing that could prevent a Mets-Cubs NLCS rematch this year.

Plus, the Giants are pretty darn good. They added Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to a rotation that already includes pitcher/slugger Madison Bumgarner. The Brandons (Belt and Crawford) anchor a sharp infield along with St. John's product Joe Panik.

They signed Denard Span as a free agent and, judging by the way he jumped those hurdles in the video he put on the Internet to prove his health, he's ready to be a disruptive lineup piece again. It's an even year, so it's on.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks: Maybe we're overexcited about these Snakes, but it's easy to dream when you add Zack Greinke to your rotation in the offseason, especially when it means Arizona plucked him from a division rival, the Dodgers. Yes, their rotation struggled last season, recording a 4.37 ERA, but they also added Shelby Miller and now the starters can perhaps keep up with what's been a solid offense and improve on last year's 79-83 record.

Led by A.J. Pollock and slugging first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the Diamondbacks (72) were second in the NL in runs last year, behind only the Rockies (737).